Why did Hongwu name his dynasty Ming?

Dorozhand

Banned
Why did the Hongwu Emperor name his new dynasty Ming? While the character is indeed auspicious, one would think that a new Han Chinese emperor would follow the precedent of naming his dynasty after an ancient state, like the Jin, Sui, Tang, Liao, and Song before him. Especially so since the Ming were overthrowing the foreign Mongols who originally broke the precedent.

Since Zhu's main base of power before taking Dadu was in the Yangtze valley, then Chu, Wu, Yue, Shu, and Qi seem like good names for his dynasty.
 
Ming means bright, so I guess he was trying to say his rule would be like the sun rising again after the darkness of Mongolian rule.
 
And such propaganda coming from a symbolic dynastic name would certainly help public opinion towards their mandated savior. ;)
 
Why did the Hongwu Emperor name his new dynasty Ming? While the character is indeed auspicious, one would think that a new Han Chinese emperor would follow the precedent of naming his dynasty after an ancient state, like the Jin, Sui, Tang, Liao, and Song before him. Especially so since the Ming were overthrowing the foreign Mongols who originally broke the precedent.

Since Zhu's main base of power before taking Dadu was in the Yangtze valley, then Chu, Wu, Yue, Shu, and Qi seem like good names for his dynasty.
The standard explanation is that Zhu Yuanzhang named his dynasty Ming for Manichaeanism, which is called Mingjiao in China. I think a more nuanced explanation is that he named his dynasty after his title, the Prince of Ming, which he took from a Manichaean rebel.

But I think he did want to call his dynasty Wu. After all, Zhu was called the Prince of Wu before he became Emperor, and he declared the "year of Wu" before he declared himself Emperor. But Zhang Shicheng had already taken the dynastic name Wu, so that probably put a damper in Zhu's ambitions.
 
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